An Occasion

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for reading and reviewing the last chapter.

Chapter Twelve-'The Accident'

Much to Bella's relief, Edward left promptly after spotting the wolves. Still, she was left with the uneasy feeling that he was still refusing to accept their relationship was over.

The next morning Bella knew that she was right to be concerned when she found Alice waiting to take her to school in the Volvo. As she opened the passenger door to let Alice know that she would prefer to drive herself instead, she struggled to make herself heard above the vibrating bass music that was coming from the car stereo.

"Hey, Alice." Bella shouted as she leaned right in. "I'm going to take the truck."

Alice was singing along to the song (if it could even be called that), her voice an octave higher than the melody, weaving through it with a complicated harmony. She ignored Bella's question, instead reaching across with one outstretched hand to grab Bella's and pull her the rest of the way into the car. The door swung shut of its own accord behind Bella, and Alice took the opportunity to speed off before Bella could protest further.

"Strap yourself in, Bella." Alice said when there was a break in the vocals.

Bella glared at Alice in annoyance, it wasn't like she could just jump out of a moving car. Alice continued to sing at a higher and higher pitch, drowning out all Bella's attempts to make her frustration known.

"You can't kidnap me, Alice!" Bella yelled anyway.

Alice just shrugged, smiling playfully.

Bella scowled in aggravation and clenched her fists together on her lap. She had no choice but to go along for the ride. It was only when she looked out of the passenger window that she realised that they were travelling in the opposite direction to school.

"Where are we going, Alice?" Bella demanded angrily. "We're going to be late for school."

Alice grinned, finally turning down the volume on the stereo until it was just background music. "You are not going to school today, Bella. We are going to do what we should have done last night." She said smugly.

"What?"

"We are going to celebrate your birthday!" Alice chirped in a sing song voice. "Happy belated birthday, Bella!"

They were all waiting in the huge white living room, when Bella was pushed through the door by Alice, they all greeted her with a loud chorus of 'Happy Birthday, Bella!' while she felt a hot flush blossom on her pale skin.

As she looked around, she noticed that every flat bit of surface had been covered with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver wrapped presents.

Bella's nostrils flared slightly in annoyance when she spotted Edward sitting at the piano, his long thin fingers poised to play. He stared across at her, catching her livid gaze with his. She noticed his expression falter slightly, but it didn't stop him from tinkling the ivories. Soon the room was filled with the soft sounds of the lullaby he had written especially for her.

It was hundred times worse than she could ever imagine.

Edward finished playing and was soon by her side, wrapping an encouraging arm around her waist and kissing the top of her head. His fake parents, Carlisle and Esme – impossibly youthful and lovely as ever – were the closest to her escape route. They blocked the doorway, surrounding her in a confining circle, leaning to hug her carefully and congratulating her.

Carlisle smiled widely as he put a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Sorry about this, Bella." He stage-whispered. "We couldn't rein Edward and Alice in."

Bella was barely holding it together. She saw Rosalie and Emmet standing off to one side. Rosalie wasn't smiling, in fact she looked as infuriated as Bella felt, her annoyed expression showing clearly what a farce she thought it all was. On the other hand, Emmet's face was stretched into a huge grin. It had been months since Bella had seen either of them, she had forgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was – it almost hurt to look at her. And Emmet seemed even bigger than ever.

"You haven't changed at all." Emmet boomed in his loud voice. "I expected some difference now that you are an old lady of eighteen."

Bella shot him a laser like stare. "And you haven't changed, either. You're still an idiot."

The whole room went deathly quiet. Emmet looked confused for a second, mistakenly thinking Bella was teasing him. It was only when he saw the others wearing serious expressions that he realised she was doing the exact opposite. "Wow." He mumbled under his breath.

Suddenly Edward's voice was close to her ear. "Apologise right now."

"I will not!" Bella answered loudly, her temper finally getting the better of her. She stepped aside, putting some space between them. "You haven't told them." She accused.

Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, her perfect teeth sparkling brilliant white in the bright light as she smiled apologetically. "Bella, please, don't blame Edward for this. It was all my idea. You know how I love parties. I spent so long yesterday getting everything ready, and when you were a no-show, I admit I got quite discouraged. Then I thought about it, of course you would want to spend your special day with Charlie, and then I decided that we could have the party today instead."

"You decided?" Bella's echoed in pure disbelief.

"Time to open presents." Alice's tone was getting quite desperate. She thrust a big, square, silver box into Bella's hands.

The box was so light that it felt empty. The tag on top said that it was from Emmet, Rosalie, and Jasper. Bella noticed Rosalie's eyes fixated on her, the ravishing blonde looked like she wanted to rip the box out of her hands for daring to insult her mate. Bella did feel a little guilty for calling Emmet an idiot, but she wasn't going to take it back, you would have to be an idiot to not see that she would rather walk across hot coals than be there.

"Open it, Bella." Edward said stiffly, he was holding her elbow in a tight grip, clearly still angry with her.

Bella bit down her retort and tore the paper off only to reveal an empty box "Now this is more my type of present. Thanks." She responded sarcastically.

"It was a stereo for your truck." Rosalie said, equally scathingly. "I personally wouldn't have bothered buying you anything…. but the others insisted. Emmet swung by your house earlier and installed it, so you can't give the damn thing back. I could always rip it out again for you… it would be a pleasure."

"Rosalie!" Carlisle reprimanded her quietly. "Apologise to Bella right now."

"I will not!" Rosalie snapped, adopting Bella's earlier refrain. "She clearly doesn't want to be here and is acting like an ungrateful brat."

Bella actually cracked a smile for the first time since she arrived. "Rosalie is right." She agreed, her gaze swept around the room, landing lastly on Edward. "I do not want to be here. I didn't want to celebrate my birthday with any of you….and you knew that, Edward." She added softly at the end.

"Edward?" Carlisle prompted him urgently. "Is this true?"

"I was hoping she would change her mind." Edward looked pleadingly at Bella, his eyes begging her to just go along with it.

"No." Bella shook her head, refusing his unspoken plea. "Tell them, Edward."

"Tell us what?" Esme's hand hovered by her throat.

"Bella's confused." Alice cut in hastily. She hurriedly thrust another present into Bella's limp hands, trying to diffuse the growing tension. "This one is from me and Edward. Open it."

Bella held the small, flat square box in her hand. "I can't accept this. I'm sorry." She said wearily, holding it out for Edward to take.

"Just open it, Bella." Alice insisted, getting in-between them. "Don't fuss! Edward didn't spend a dime on it. I promise."

Bella stared at the little package in defeat. She stuck her finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape. She swore under her breath as the paper sliced her finger. She pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.

Then before she had time to draw her next breath, Jasper slammed into her, knocking the breath from her body. The last thing she was aware of was a grisly, snarling sound that seemed to reverberate deep inside his chest, his eyes were wide and crazed, his teeth snapping and lunging just inches from her face.

Then she knew no more as she sank into unconsciousness.

A sense of déjà vu hit Bella as soon she opened her eyes to a bright, white light. She was in an all too familiar room, a white room. The wall beside her was covered in long vertical blinds, over her head, the glaring lights blinded her. She was propped up on a hard uneven bed – a bed with rails - a hospital bed.

An annoying beeping sound came from somewhere close by. She tried to raise her hands to cover her ears and block it out, but they were all twisted up with clear tubes, and something was taped across her face, under her nose. She lifted her hand to rip it off.

"No, you don't, kiddo."

Bella stared blearily up at her father's face as he reached out and caught her hand in his, stilling it. "Dad?" She croaked. "What's happening?"

"You're in hospital…. again." Charlie sighed heavily.

"Why? I don't…." Bella began to panic. She clawed at the tubes again, trying to yank them all out.

"Stop! Bella! Stop!" Charlie grabbed her hands and yanked them apart. "You need to stay still."

"Why am I here? Dad?" Frightened tears bled out of Bella's eyes.

"That damn Cullen boy!" Charlie muttered.

"What?"

"You don't remember the accident?" Charlie peered at her face worriedly.

"No." Bella said faintly.

"You skipped school." Charlie explained, his lips drawing into a thin line. "Because you missed out on spending your actual birthday with him, you foolishly decided to miss school and drive to Port Angeles together the next day. His car spun off the road after a deer crashed into it…. he was fine…. but you were knocked unconscious." He shook his head, his face pale with worry. "Your body is black and blue, but luckily you sustained no other serious injury."

Bella's gauze wrapped hands trembled as she took the time to absorb the lie that the Cullens had constructed to cover for their latest disaster. She stared up into her father's worried eyes and hers welled with tears again. "Is Edward here?" She asked hoarsely.

"No." Charlie's voice was like steel, his eyes flint hard. "I am not letting that boy near you again, Bella. This is one too many times you've been hurt in his company. You can protest as much as you like, he is bad news."

"I don't want to see him again." Bella whispered. "Its over, Dad."

Charlie's face registered his surprise, but he refrained from saying anything further. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Its going to be okay, kiddo. I'm going to take good care of you."

Bella closed her eyes in relief.

The next time she opened them, she found Billy and Jacob sitting by her bed. She tried to sit up, but Jacob immediately pushed her back down. "Don't be an idiot." He told her, his relieved smile taking the sting out of his words.

"Hi, Bella." Billy greeted her, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. "Charlie has just stepped out to talk to the doctor."

Bella relaxed against the heaped-up pillows. "How long have I been out of it?"

"We've been here for about an hour." Jacob perched on the edge of the bed and slipped his warm fingers around one of her gauze-wrapped hands.

Bella tried to reach for his face with her free hand, but something stopped her. She glanced down to see the IV pulling at her hand. "Ugh." She winced. "I hate this."

"You'll be out soon." Jacob rubbed his thumb across her palm. "Won't she, Dad?"

"Of course." Billy agreed amiably. "And don't you worry, Bella. We've got your back." His dark eyes turned serious when he said the last bit.

"Thank you." Bella murmured in confusion. She wondered what he meant by that.

"It was lucky Sam Uley was passing by at the time of your accident." Jacob said, much to Bella's surprise.

"Sam Uley?" Bella questioned, grimacing as she tried to breathe deeply despite the ache all over her body. "I don't know who that is."

"He's an old family friend." Billy revealed.

"I wouldn't go that far." Jacob refuted, his eyes sliding irritably in his father's direction. "But I am grateful he brought her in, instead of that Cullen guy." He looked down at Bella in confusion. "What were you doing with him, Bells? You told me you guys broke up."

"We did. We have." Bella mumbled; her head was reeling with all this new information.

"Jake, ease off with all the questions." Billy warned his son gently. "Bella has been through a lot."

"I'm sorry, Bella." Jacob apologised guiltily.

"That's okay." Bella squeezed his hand gratefully. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me, too." Jacob replied, warming her with his beautiful smile.

A/N-thanks for reading. Please review.